Fish locating means for feeder tables



May 16, 1950 N. L. OATES FISH LOCA'fING MEANS FOR FEEDER TABLES 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed April 15, 1940 Snnmtor y 6, 1950 N. L.OATES 2,507,809

FISH LOCATING MEANS FOR FEEDER TABLES Original Filed April 15, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Jnvcntor Gttornegs Patented May 16, 1950 FISH LOCATINGMEANS FOR FEEDER TABLES Norford L. Oates, Seattle, Wash., assignor toSmith Cannery Machines Company, Seattle, Wash, a corporation ofWashington Original application April 15, 1940, Serial No. 329,714.Divided and this application May 12, 1942, Serial No. 442,706

Claims.

The present application deals with the posi- I tioning of individualfish as they are started or advanced along a feeder table towards adistant beheading point, preparatory to further advance into and througha fish-dressing machine. present application is divided from mycopending application Serial No. 329,714, filed April 15, 1940, nowPatent 2,346,935, dated April 18, 1944.

Each individual fish is disposed upon such feeder tables transversely ofthe direction of its advance, usually with its belly rearmost. Each suchfish is engaged by a series of upstanding traveling pins, spaced alongthe table from other such series, and is advanced bodily lengthwise ofthe table to a beheading point at the opposite end of the table. At thisbeheading point is disposed a beheading knife, which knife may be eitherimmovable, with means provided for advancin the fish to and past theknife for beheading, or movable, for instance being rotatable andproperly timed with the fish-advancing means, to sever the head when thefish arrives in exactly the proper position with respect to thisbeheading point.

The beheading point, therefore, is precisely located transversely of thetable, and in order that too much of the usable flesh to the rear of thefish's head shall not be severed with the head, and thus wasted, or, onthe other hand, that the head shall not be severed too shortly, therebyleaving too much of the bony structure of the gill case and pectoralgirdle attached to the body of the fish, it is necessary that the fishalso be precisely located in the direction of its own length, ortransversely of the table, and with respect to the beheading point,which is in effect a registry point.

There is no particular difficulty in so doing if the attendant wholocates the fish upon the table is reasonably attentive, skillful, andagile, and uses reasonable judgment, yet on the other hand, suchmachines operate at considerable speed, perhaps 80 to 90 fish a minute,the work becomes monotonous, and the attend-ants areusually inattentiveand careless. The result is, no dependence can be placed upon thejudgment, care or skill of the operator correctly to position the fishin this respect. Inspection of the heads will usually show a largewastage of the especially valualble part of the fish which liesimmediately behind the head. 7 7

While the necessity of accurate registry of the fish with the beheadingpoint was understood. and various means had been proposed to The Vsecure that result, there had been none hitherto which did not in toogreat measure rely upon the care, judgment or skill of the attendant. Ithad been proposed, for instance, to locate an upstanding pin to enterand pierce the lowermost gill of the fish, and thus. to serve as alocating means, but this, while practicable with lower feed ratesformerly prevalent, is impracticable to use at the higher feed ratesmentioned above, and which now prevail. Snout boards, too, had beenproposed, located parallel to the direction of advance of the fishssnout, andagainst which the snout of the fish could be pressed to locatethe fish transversely of the table. This would unquestionably locate theextreme snout of all the fish in a single line, but in commercial salmoncanneries the fish may run in the same day, or in the same catch, from 4pounds, or even 3 pounds, up to 20 pounds or more. Such fish, varying sogreatly in weight, will naturally vary in the length of their heads,with the result that a snout board which is correctly positioned for onesize of fish is incorrectly positioned for a different size. If thefeeder table is to handle random sizes of fish the snout board must beset at some compromise setting, with the result that most fish areimproperly located.

It has also been proposed to hook a fin, such as the pectoral fin, overa guide rail, disposed parallel to the direction of advance of the fish,thereby to serve as a stop means to locate the fish in the direction ofits length and transversely of its direction of advance. While this is amaterial improvement in' that it places a minimum of reliance on thecare, skill and judgment of the attendant, it still does not procureaccurate registry, in random sizes of fish, between the beheading pointor knife and the pectoral girdle of the fish. 'The pectoral finfrequently sticks tightly to the side of the fish so that it cannot beengaged readily. It is small and soft, engagement of a plate edge withits base cutting deeply into it to render the registry inaccurate andperhaps cutting it olf completely. Sometimes this fin has been torn offin handling before the fish is placed on the feed table. Rememberingthat it is the primary aim, on the one hand, to prevent cutting off withthe head too much of the flesh behind the pectoral girdle, and on theother hand'to prevent the cutting off with the body of too much of thebony structure, made up of the gill case and the pectoral girdle, it'isevident that the pectoral girdle and the gill case alone are thecritical points, and

that there must be a precise registration with those points rather thanwith any other part of the fishs anatomy. The pectoral fins will bedifferently spaced from the pectoral girdle in different sizes of fish,therefore a location by the pectoral fin will be inaccurate, added towhich the fin or the surrounding flesh may become flabby or misplaced,and the accuracy of location is further adversely affected thereby.

It will be evident that the above considerations, namely, the accuratelocation of the fish in the direction of its own length with respect toa beheading point toward which it is advanced bodily while lyingtransversely of its direction of advance, are quite independent ofthenature of the beheading action, or whether the knife is fixed orrotary, or how the knife is positioned with respect to the advancingfish. Accordingly the subject-matter of this application is deemed to beproperly divisible from my copending application referred to above, andto be proper subject-matter for a separate patent.

From the above discussion it will be evident that the primary object ofthe present invention is to provide an improved means, not dependentupon the skill, care, or judgment of the operator, but upon habit alone,to locate fish upon such a feeder table accurately with respect to thedistant beheading point toward which they are advanced, to the ultimateend of conserving the usable flesh and of avoiding the inclusion in thepack of an undue amount of bony material.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in aform which illustrates the principles of my invention in relation to afeeder table of the general type disclosed and claimed in my copendingapplication reierred'to above.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the feeder table, illustrating also portionsof the fish-dressing machine, certain guards and the like being omittedfor clearer illustration.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the feeder table.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the fish positioning means andassociated elements.

The fish-dressing machine is generally indicated at 9, and includes abull ring 90 rotated in the direction of the arrow (Figure 1) by gears9| in a frame 92 driven by meshing pinions 93 on a shaft 94. Power fordriving the feed means may be taken off through a pair of bevel gears95. The fish are supplied to the feed table from a feed platform P, andare slid down a curved surface 25 at the opposite end of the feed tableto a trough T which is inclined to deliver b.8- headed fish, tail endfirst, to the bull ring 90 for proper cooperation with the fish-dressingelements of the machine 9, which elements are not shown.

The feeder table includes a fiat bed 2 having longitudinal grooves 20within which are received the upper run of endless feed chains l, whichat spaced intervals are provided with upstanding pins or lugs I0. Thechains I pass over sprocket wheels 3 and 30 at opposite ends of;

the table. The sprocket wheels 3 are carried upon a shaft 34 which isdriven from the shaft 35, which at one end receives one of the bevelgears 95 shown in Figure 1, the connection between the shafts 34 and 35being by the sprocket chain 36 and suitable drive sprocket wheels on therespective shafts. Such chain drive may be. interrupted by disengagingjaw clutch 'H by swinging handle 1 without stopping rotation of theknife 4. The chain lugs |U are arranged in a series transversely of thetable, to engage a fish at intervals in its length when it is laidtransversely upon the table, and they advance the fish to the beheadingknife 4 at the beheading point B.

In addition to the chains I there may be also provided a head chainextending between a sprocket wheel 31 upon the shaft 38 and a sprocketwheel 39 which is supported from the bed 2 in the vicinity of thebeheading point B. This chain II is to support and advance the fish'shead, which in certain kinds of salmon is quite a large proportion ofthe total length so that it is given adequate support even though itoverhangs considerably the location of the head cut.

In this particular form of the device the beheading knife 4 is securedupon a hub 40 which is carried upon a shaft 4| journaled in a bracket 24supported from the bed or frame 2. The shaft 4| lies closely adjacentthe top surface of the bed 2, so that the cutting edge of the knife 4 ismoving substantially normal to the supporting surface of the bed when itengages the fish which is advancing along the bed.

The knife is rotated by any suitable drive means, as, for example, bybevel gears, as represented at 45, which are in turn driven through avertical shaft which is located behind the bracket 24 in Figure 2, fromthe shaft 35. By these or similar means the shaft 4| rotates the knife 4so that it intersects the path of advance of the fish at the beheadingpoint B, while the knife is moving substantially normally to the surfaceof the bed.

At the beheading point B, where the knife in its downstroke intersectsthe surface of the bed 2 and passes beneath the surface of the bed, thebed is suitably contoured or slit conformably to the shape of the knifeto permit the knife to pass through, but to supportthe fish adequatelyand firmly at each side of the knife and close to the path thereof; sothat a substantially true shearing action is accomplished, and the fishadequately resists the force of the knife stroke andis cleanly severedat the proper'point.

The knife is rotative within a guard, of which only a small fragment isindicated at 46. This guard serves as a convenient support for thefish-locating means, which includes an arm 6.0 pivoted at 6| upon theguard, and held upraised above but somewhat within the path of advanceof the fish by an adjusting screw 62,. Positive fish-locating gaugemeans are carried by arm 60, shown in the form of a rail or bar 63;supported for vertical adjustment relative to the arm by two boltsextendin through slots spaced lengthwise along the arm, as shown inFigure 2. This bar is aligned lengthwise of the table 2 with thebeheadin point B.

In the form shown fish locating, bar 83 resembles a letter V turnedsideways, and is located so that its lower edge constitutes a blade, orplate which will engage behind a bony excrescence of the fish whichbears a fairly definite and close, relation to the gill case or pectoralgirdle, to establish the position of the cut. to sever the head from.the body. As illustrated, the edge portion of the bar is so located asto engage beneath and abut the, tailward side of the fish's uppermostgill cover by relative movement of the fish and bar lengthwise of thefish, as shown clearly in Figure 3 of the, drawings, and suchrelationship. is maintained as thefish advances along the locating bar.The operator merely places the fish on the table, the pins l pick up thefish and start to advance it, and when the fish is in position where itsgill cover can engage the member 63 the operator, who has not yetremoved his hand from the fishs head or snout, pushes the fishlengthwise toward its tail end until the member 63, acting as a stop,comes up against the tailward side of the bony excrescence, such as theuppermost gill cover. Such engagement prevents further tailward movementof the fish, and the operator now knows that the fish is properlylocated. He is required to use no judgment, to exercise no skill, andbut a minimum of care is required.

The arm 60 will swing upward to a greater or less extent about pivot 6|as bar 63 rides over each fish, the distance through which the bar movesupward depending upon the thickness of the individual fish. The lengthof such bar, as shown in Figure 1, will be short enough so that it willdrop down to its lowermost position again after each fish is engaged andbefore the next one is advanced to the bar. The fish is slid along rail63 by its advance along the table, and thus is located in registry withthe beheading point. The stop bar 63 is adjustable transversely of thetable to whatever extent is necessary to align it accurately with thebeheading point by altering the thickness of the spacers shown in Fig. 1which are carried by the bolts supporting the stop from arm 60.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A feed table for a fish-dressing machine, comprising a bed, whereonthe fish are laid transversely and fiat, means to advance the fish alongthe bed to and past a beheading point, a stop bar disposed along andgenerally parallel to the fishs path, in advance of the beheading point,and located to engage beneath the then upper gill cover of eachindividual fish, to serve as a, locating stop, means supporting said barfor movement upwardly and downwardly, to accommodate widely differentsizes of fish, but restraining movement of the bar transversely of thetable during said adjustment, and a knife movable in a fixed path,bearing a definite relationship to each fish as thus located, to severthe fishs head, at the beheadin point.

2. A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish lengthwise of said tabletoward the beheading station, means for establishing the position of thebeheading out including a fish locating member above the feed table andhaving a portion elongated transversely of the length of the fishprojecting downwardly toward the fish carried by the feed table, saidelongated portion being disposed to abut a side of a bony excrescence ofeach fish close to the location of the beheading cut by relativemovement of the fish and locating member generally lengthwise of thefish, and means supporting said locating member relative to thebeheading station to dispose the fish in proper lengthwise relationshipthereto to position the cut by such abutment of said locating member.

3. A fish beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward the beheadingstation, a bar, and means above said feed table supporting said barsubstantially in line with the beheading station, said bar being formedfor engagement beneath and for abutment with the tailward side of theupper gill cover of a fish lying on its side on said table, bylengthwise movement of the fish transversely of the table.

4. A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward the beheadingstation, and a fish locating bar extending generally transversely of thelength of the fish, supported above said feed table, and having an edgeportion inclined downward toward the head end of the fish carried by thefeed table to abut the tailward side of a bony excrescence of each fishclose to the location of the beheading cut b relative movement of thefish and bar generally lengthwise of the fish, to position such fishlengthwise in proper relationship to the beheading station.

5. A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supportin fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward the beheadingstation, and a fish locating bar extending generally transversely of thelength of the fish carried by the feed table, supported above said feedtable, and having an edge portion inclined downward generally toward thehead end of the fish carried by the feed table for engagement beneathand abutting the tailward side of the upper gill cover of a fish toserve as a locating stop, said locating bar being positioned relative tothe beheading station to dispose the fish thus engaged in properlengthwise relationship thereto.

6. A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward the beheadingstation, a fish locating bar extending generally transversely of thelength of the fish carried b the feed table, supported above said feedtable, and having an edge portion inclined downward generally toward thehead end of the fish carried by the feed table for engagement beneathand abutting the tailward side of the upper gill cover of a fish toserve as a locating stop, and means supporting said bar for movementupwardly and downwardly, to accommodate widely different sizes of fish,but restraining movement of the bar transversely of the table duringsuch adjustment, and positioning said bar relative to the beheadingstation to dispose the fish thus engaged in proper lengthwiserelationship thereto.

7. A feed table for fish-dressing machines, comprising means to advancealong the table toward a beheading station fish laid crosswise of thetable, and means for locating the fish lengthwise relative to thebeheading station, including a fish locating member above the feed tableand having a portion elongated transversely of the length of the fishprojecting downwardly toward the fish carried by the feed table, saidelongated portion being disposed to abut the tailward side of a bonyexcrescence of each fish close to the location of the beheading cut byrelative movement of the fish and locating member generally lengthwiseof the fish, and means supporting said locating member for upwardmovement by riding upon a fish to vary its spacing from the feed tableas required for engagement with fish of different size.

8. A feed table for fish-dressing machines, comprising means to advancealong the table toward a beheading station fish laid crosswise of thetable, and means for locating the fish lengthwise relative to thebeheading station, including a blade extending generally in thedirection of advance of the fish, located above the feed table andprojecting edgewise downwardly toward the fish carried by the feedtable, said blade being disposed to abut a side of a bony excrescence ofeach fish close to the location of the beheading i cut by relativemovement of the fish and blade generally lengthwise of the fish, andmeans supporting said blade for upward movement by riding upon a fish tovary its spacing from the feed table as required for engagement withfish of difierent size, said blade being of a length less than thedistance between successively advancing fish.

9. A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheading stationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward and past thebeheading station, means for establishing the position of the beheadingout including a blade positioned in means supporting said blade relativeto the beheading .station to dispose the fish in proper lengthwiserelationship thereto.

141A fish-beheading machine, comprising a feed table for supporting fishtransversely thereof, beheading means operable at a beheadingstationdefinitely positioned transversely of the feed table to behead fishmoved past such station, means to advance fish toward the beheadingstation, and a locating member above :said feed table for establishingthe position of the beheading out, having -a.-su-rfa,ce extendinggenerally transversely of the length of the fish disposed to abut a bonyexcrescence of each fish close to the location of the beheading cut byrelative movement of the fish and locating member generally lengthwiseof the fish, said locating member being positioned relative to thebeheading station .to :dispose the fish, by engagement of such bonyexcrescence with said locating member, improper lengthwiserelationship-to the beheading station.

NORFORD L. DATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,222,926 Brierly et al Apr. 1'7,1917 1,643,504 Lea Sept. ,27, 1927 1,909,643 Waugh May 16, 19332,245,330 Danielsson .,June 10, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date515,764 Great Britain Dec. 13, 1939

